Ukraine is in talks with the Pentagon, the US government and SpaceX about removing a speed restriction affecting the Starshield military satellite network, Ukrainian presidential adviser on defense technology Serhii Beskrestnov said.
According to the Associated Press, the restriction, which was introduced without warning, cuts off data transmission when a terminal is moving faster than roughly 160 kilometers per hour. The measure has affected Ukrainian drones and other systems that use Starshield.
Some of the connectivity problems were resolved after Ukraine contacted the US side, but the speed restriction itself remained in place at the time of publication. Kyiv is also considering switching to a more expensive Starshield aviation package that does not have the same restriction.
Against this backdrop, The Wall Street Journal reported that US Senators Roger Wicker and Kevin Cramer proposed extending Starlink coverage roughly 300 kilometers into Russian territory in exchange for a 100-day pause in Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities.
According to the WSJ, Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that he was prepared to consider such an arrangement. No agreement has been publicly announced.